Bozell: Enough with the Moderates, Conservatives are Fed Up

“How is it so many Republican/conservative pundits had it all wrong? Though virtually every poll showed Obama winning, or within striking distance of virtually every battleground state, why were Noonan-Morris-Hannity-Barone-Bozell and so many others so incorrect? Perhaps it was because so many of us simply could not fathom that the United States of America would willingly choose a path to destruction. One could argue that in ’08 America didn’t know what she was buying. Not so this year. Obama’s record and agenda were there. We thought this time – this time! — America wouldn’t buy that message. But enough of us did.

“How did this happen? Some of us argued from the start that this would either be Obama by a hair or Romney by a landslide. And for good reason.

“In politics there are two irrefutable truths. First, define or be defined. He who succeeds in projecting of his opponent the negative perception, and of himself the positive one, wins. Given Obama’s atrocious record in his first term, arguably the worst performance in modern history; and given that he had nothing to offer for the next four years except more of the same, it should have been a cakewalk for Romney to define him. Hence the projected landslide.

“Unless Obama succeeded in defining Romney, in this case as some kind of corporate demon, the ‘greedy rich’ personified. If he could do that, perhaps he could squeeze out a victory.

“Second, it is a virtual surety that when Republicans distinguish themselves from Democrats they win. Conversely, when they go Democrat Lite, they lose. There’s a simple reason for this. Democrats almost always run to the liberal end of the political spectrum, where public support hovers around 20%. Conservatives always enjoy public support double that number, at least. In Obama’s case, his is a failed agenda that is the most radical in American history. Again, it should have been a landslide for Romney had he embraced a truly conservative agenda.

“But Romney is a moderate and his campaign embarked on a bizarre “prevent defense” from the outset. In my view Romney enjoyed only one good day in the entire general campaign: the first debate, when he took the fight directly to Obama, crushed him, and finally electrified the Republican base. By the third debate, when he did nothing to press Obama on his monumental foreign policy debacles, the momentum was lost, never to be regained.

“It is a testimony to Romney’s colossal failure, and Obama’s expert political enterprise that Obama won – handily.

“Republicans in Congress performed even more dismally, if this is possible. For the past four years, and emphatically for the past two, conservatives have been told that Republicans in Congress would finally choose to fight “when we take the Senate” in 2012. Time and again we conservatives warned the Senate leadership that “when” was “if” and “if” would never materialize unless Republicans took the fight to the Democrats, and gave conservatives a reason to galv

anize behind them. We were ignored.

“As we were in the House. Time and again we expressed to the House leadership that symbolic, meaningless votes were useless; only a forceful agenda to address the looming entitlements crisis that threatens to bankrupt us, while ridding America of the unnecessary (PBS/NPR), the immoral (Planned Parenthood) and the inefficient (most everything else), would suffice – and honor their solemn commitments. We suggested for good measure that they demand and embrace a return to Constitutional government. We were told in response that “when we take the Senate” all things would be done. Then they fumigated the room when we left.

“The end result was predictable: the ‘when’ evaporated months ago when it became clear the Senate GOP would do nothing. The projected 6-7-8 seat pick-ups disappeared. They accomplished the impossible. They lost two seats. Not one Democrat incumbent was defeated.

“It is time for conservatives to say Enough. Enough with a Republican Party that has betrayed its own principles, and the promises that elected most of their members, repeatedly and with consistently disastrous results. It is time for conservatives to withhold any further support, financial and otherwise, to the Republican Party unless and until the GOP re-earns our trust. To do so, the following commitments must be made:

A refusal to participate in any “Lame Duck” session that furthers the leftist Democratic agenda.

At its earliest opportunity, vote to defund Obamacare as well as every other government boondoggle it has committed to terminate, from Planned Parenthood to PBS.

Pledge to not raise taxes – any taxes on the rich or on the middle class.

Aggressively support a Cut, Cap And Balance agenda to terminate wasteful spending, cap spending at 2008 levels, and put the country on a fast track toward a balanced budget.

Aggressively support an agenda to undo the regulatory madness in Washington.

Permanently ban earmarks.

Reform the federal tax code.

Return the country to Constitutional governance, with emphasis on individual freedom.

Commit itself to a strong military, rejecting any measure to gut the military through sequestration.

Embrace a strong social and culturally conservative agenda, in all its forms.

“The GOP has an excellent party platform. If you want our support, support your own platform first.”

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ForAmerica (www.ForAmerica.org) is an online army of over 3 million people. The group is a non-profit 501(c)4 organized to educate Americans about traditional and contemporary American values, to relentlessly fight the growth of government, to oppose any substitute to freedom and self-government, to promote individual liberty and excellence, to promote economic opportunity, and to move America toward her founding principles. ForAmerica is chaired by L. Brent Bozell III, one of the most outspoken and effective national leaders in the conservative movement today.

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A former U.S.Marine, he is the Creator of The Minority Report Network. He is also the Founder and Managing Editor of the Network’s flagship site, www.theminorityreportblog.com, Former Director of New Media for Liberty.com, Former Director of New Media for Liberty First PAC, and the Former Chief Managing Editor of 73Wire.com. Steve is a well respected national conservative blogger who’s dedicated the past several years of his life advancing conservatism online. Recently Steve was instrumental in the development of Liberty.com, Liberty First PAC, The Patriot Caucus, the national campaign trail and grassroots news site73wire.com.